So Many Ways to Make Spinach Salad

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing pg 70 Tastes & Treasures is a favorite of mine.

Here's a new twist with barley.
Spinach Barley Salad with Gorgonzola and Toasted Walnuts
4 cups quick-cooking pearl barley
3 tablespoon sherry vinegar or red-wine vinegar
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 ounce gorgonzola cheese, finely crumbled (about ¼ cup)
6 cups baby spinach leaves, shredded
¼ cup sliced red onion
2 tablespoon toasted chopped walnuts

Cook barley according to package instructions. Meanwhile, whisk together vinegar and mustard. Whisk in oil until well blended, then whisk cheese into mixture.
Put cooked barley in a serving bowl. Add remaining ingredients, plus salt and pepper to taste, then toss gently. Stir in vinaigrette; cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to mix.
Note: Quick cooking pearled barley cooks faster than regular barley. Any soft, crumbly cheese such as feta, blue or goat cheese is good also.

Cardinals "Wild Win"

Quite a thrill they gave us with the final score 51-45 over Green Bay. Even a non football fan such as me got caught up in the game and overtime.
We worked up an appetite so our neighbors prepared a wonderful feast. Kathy baked the King Crab, Pat grilled vegies and steak and I made Camelback Inn's Spinach Salad page 70.
Let's hope they get in the playoffs so we can do this again.

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing
4 ounces bacon, chopped and cooked
1/4 cup Warm Bacon Dressing (below)
1 pound baby spinach
4 ounces goat cheese
1 Bartlett pear, sliced
Slightly heat the bacon and dressing in a saute pan. Pour over the spinach in a salad bowl and toss to coat. Crumble the goat cheese over the spinach mixture and top with the pear slices.
Serves 4

Warm Bacon Dressing
1 1/2 pounds peppered bacon, chopped
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
Sugar to taste
salt and pepper to taste
Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp. Remove the bacon to paper towels to drain and reserve for another purpose. Drain the bacon drippings from the skillet, reserving 3/4 cup. Mix the vinegar, Dijon mustard and whole grain mustard in a bowl. Heat the reserved bacon drippings in a saucepan until slightly warm. Whisk into the mustard mixture. Add the sugar, salt and pepper and mix well. Makes 1 1/4 cup

Note: Keep the goat cheese cool. It doesn't crumble when left at room temperature waiting for the overtime game to finish.
Pears are not ripe at this time of year so I substituted with apples. Apples and goat cheese are a great combination.
I only used a small amount of the dressing. Mixing the dressing in a jar was an easy way to transport it and have it ready to heat and pour.